Birthday:April 4th 1970Coloration:Orange & White TabbyLikes:To play play play!Pet-Peeves:My mother......Favorite Toy:AnythingFavorite Nap Spot:Hiding somewhere in the living roomFavorite Food:Puss in BootsDwells:
indoors Arrival Story:April 1959..... "Dear St Anthony", I prayed, a little kid of 12 -- "I want a cat!" I loved cats and wanted one for a pet -- the lady who lived above me had THREE cats (ALL spayed and neutered) and I loved seeing them at her windows. May 4, 1959 -- Mom sis and I walked past the Fordham Road Pet Shop, near Lafayette Radio and Roosevelt HS in the Bronx -- there playing in the sawdust inside the pet shop window were the CUTEST kittens! 25 cents each -- we all walked in a chose the liveliest little orange and white tabby -- and bought cat food, toys, a little red leash and collar and we walked home, with me holding this cute little kitten. Girl or boy? We didn't know -- but since most Orange and White tabbies were boys, I'll say that Buttons was a boy. How did Buttons get his name? He kept playing with the buttons on my jacket! --------- When we took him home, we tried to play with him, but he was scared and would hide every so often. Then he would become brave and run up to us. On that Sunday, we put him in his little collar and leash and with me holding him carefully, we walked to the Bronx Botanical Gardens nearby, where he romped and played -- on his leash, delighting both us and all the people who saw him. What a beautiful day that was!! Here I was with my kitty, and I was so happy!Bio:------------ But Mom.... had other feelings about this. "I'm allergic to that cat! Take him back to the pet store!!!" Was Mom REALLY allergic to Buttons -- or was she allergic to the very smelly silver paint with awful fumes, that had JUST been applied by the building's Super to ALL the FOUR radiators in our apartment, and was still in the process of drying??!!! -------- Nothing I tearfully said could change Mom's mind. So the next morning, on our way back to the Pet Shop, we put little Buttons in a makeshift carrier -- a little shoebox with holes; Buttons would occasonally poke his little frowzy head out of the top of the box, much to the delight of all who saw him, including a little old Italian Lady all dressed in black, who said "Ma Cuanta belle e!! " (Oh how beautiful he is!!!), as she reached out to pet his little frowzy head... Sis and I walked back to the pet shop. That was the LONGEST SADDEST walk I ever took. --- When I got to the Pet Shop, I very sadly gave Buttons back to the man at the pet shop, including leash, collar toys and food, and walked back home. Buttons was gone from my life. ------- A few weeks later Mom gave me a little statue of an orange and white kitten -- "It looks just like Buttons!" I sobbed and cried, and.... Can You Believe This --- Mom said "Why are you crying?!" -------- Years later I still missed Buttons, for what do you REALLY know is happening to your cat when you give him/her away, and it goes to an unknown home??? I wondered if the next person who took Buttons home was good to him. That night I had a dream - an adult orange and white tabby came out from our Super's basement and looked at me silently as we both stood on the sidewalk. Did this mean that Buttons went to live with a family whose father was the Superintendant of one of the other apartment buildings in the Bronx??? -- That dream was strangely comforting. I REALLY hope Buttons had a good life.Forums Motto:NEVER buy a pet - ADOPT - responsibly !I've Been On Catster Since: